Road Trips and Reunions
by auslly-is-adorkable
Summary: One-shot based on the Season 3 premiere promo we got. Enjoy.


That promo killed me. So here.

* * *

"She's in the beat of my heart," Austin sings, his Philadelphia concert coming to a close. He loved performing. It took him to a place that was high and untouchable. It was a place where you couldn't compare to everyday life. Everything was perfect in this place. He had his friends and his music there. He didn't feel that same ecstasy on Earth, though, because even though two of three of his friends were with him, not her. Not Ally. Music was the drug but Ally was the high. Nothing felt right without her.

He smiles widely and thanks his fans for coming to the show, for joining him on his Full Moon tour. He grins at the thought, because the name was a pun. Ally came up with it. She loved puns. He wasn't a fan but he had to admit that was a good one. He couldn't believe the tour was almost over, that it's been eighty-five days since he last saw her. He cried every night. The first of them he barely slept at all, because he felt numb. That's why he loved performing – he felt things again. Things other than the sadness that washed through his body at any given moment. He felt happy. Sometimes he hated being happy. He felt guilty that he was happy while she wasn't there. She's his songwriter and she got him to this point. She should have been there.

As the crowd disperses slowly, he stands centre stage where he finished his song and stares. Off in to the distance for a while, sometimes at Trish and Dez while they argued. He missed talking to Ally. Texting and video chatting were no replacement.

He watches the last couple of girls leave, then the place is empty aside from them, Jimmy and the band. A sparkle catches his eye though, and he whips his head to the left, happiness soaring through his veins.

"Ally," he exclaims, staring at her wide-eyed. "You came!" He runs at full speed off the stage and wraps her in his arms. His eyes are closed and his mouth is in a full grin. He slowly comes to a realization, though. He notices her body is a lot bigger than it last was, and that she wasn't reacting. He notices that she doesn't smell like daffodils and vanilla anymore, but like aftershave. He opens his eyes slowly and looks up in to the eyes of a security guard. He gasps and backs away slowly, hot tears beginning to spill from his eyes. "I.. I thought you were Ally." He looks to Trish and Dez, both staring in sadness and shock. "I..." He runs out of the venue, crying. Ally wasn't there. It was just an illusion.

He races in to the tour bus and takes his place on his bed, wrapping his arms around his knees and whimpers in to his body. He missed her so badly. All he wanted to do was hold her. Or tell her he loved her, like he failed to do eighty-five days ago. He still hated himself for it.

Later he hears the door to the bedroom area open and shut quietly. Trish and Dez take their place in their own beds and lay there. Neither of them sleep, though. Not until he does. He hates being so weak. But he does sleep eventually. And they go to sleep with a heavy heart. It wasn't this bad before. He never hallucinated over seeing her. They needed a fix-it and they needed it quick.

Trish texts Dez, though he's literally a foot from her in a joint bunk bed.

_I have a plan_, she writes.

_About? _he replies.

_Austin. This is getting out of hand._

_I know. What is it?_

And they get down to business. She wishes she could just tell him, though. But she couldn't risk waking Austin up. Not after today.

* * *

The next morning, Austin wakes up to Trish and Dez hovering by his pillow. Under normal circumstances, he would freak out by the proximity of their faces to his, but he cried himself to sleep a lot nowadays and they always would be there when he woke up.

"Morning," he says, his voice cracking. He clears his throat. "Morning," he repeats.

"Good morning," Trish says. "I have someone who wants to talk to you."

"Who?" he asks, bored. He rubs his eyes and rustles his hair before swinging off the bed.

"Ally."

"What?" he demands, excited.

"I have her on FaceTime right now." She gestures to the iPad on the lower bunk.

He picks it up frantically. He was excited to hear her voice again, as it's been six days. As much as he wished she was there to see him, this would suffice for now. "Hey, Ally," is all he can manage to say, desperately trying to keep up the cool facade. He hoped Trish and Dez didn't say anything. He swallows hard at her.

You know that pain in your stomach that you get before you cry? Maybe you don't. But when you're on the verge of tears, there's this literal gut-wrench of your stomach that makes you feel worse than you did. You get that feeling before the first shaky breath escapes your lips and you can't seem to stop the tears after that, even if you try. And that shaky breath, that's the worst. You swear that you're okay or indifferent or that you were never going to cry in the first place. But then you take a deep breath, and that sounds like about four at once. And it's deeper than the rest. You suddenly need more oxygen in your lungs because the internal capacity is seemingly larger than before. So with a swallow, a gut-wrench and a shaky breath... well basically it's a dead give away you're not okay.

He knows Ally knows this. That's why when she asks if he's okay, he lies and says "yeah, just stifling a yawn". It was the perfect excuse. If you try to stop yourself from yawning, your eyes can water and your lips tremble and the breath is all screwed up. He sighs internally with relief when she giggles in response. He missed that giggle.

He missed her.

"What's up?" Trish says, moving the conversation along.

"Not much, the record is going well," Ally says cheerily. "How's the tour Austin?"

He feels like he won a prize when she directs a question toward him. He doesn't show it though. He just smiles and tells her the truth. "It's great! It's been such a blast." Well, half the truth. "What are you working on now?" he wonders, though he wishes she was working on buying a plane ticket to finish the tour with him. Erh, them.

"Not much. But I have songs that I'm having trouble finishing," she tells them. He smiles at that, because she's such a brilliant songwriter when it comes to his music but she gets completely lost with her own. He wants to hug her.

"How come?" Trish asks, curious.

"I don't know," Ally admits. "Just a lot of stress, I guess."

"Maybe you need a few days off," Austin suggests before he could process his words. Dez and Trish both grin in agreement. It was reasonable, right?

"Hmm.." she says.

"Yeah, Ally," Trish adds. "Come see us! We miss you so much."

"Yeah," Dez grins. Austin couldn't help notice the way Trish said 'we'. He fidgets slightly.

Ally sits there quietly for a few moments. Austin watched hopefully.

"I'm gonna do it," she finalizes. "I'm going to join you guys on tour."

"Yay!" The three friends cheer in unison.

Austin mentally screams and cries and sings all at once, while only projecting a genuine smile and a laugh. Truthfully, he didn't think she'd agree. But now that she has, maybe he'll get a good night\s sleep tonight.

"Great! We'll see you then."

"Bye, Ally," Trish and Dez say.

"Bye, Als." He smiles. He notices her cheeks redden slightly. Maybe it was just the lighting.

She says goodbye and the video call ends. He stares at the screen. There was that gut-wrench again. This time, it was a good feeling.

* * *

That night, since there was no show, he went to bed earlier than usual. It was only ten. Before he gets ready to actually sleep, however, he sends her a text.

_Glad you're coming tomorrow, _he writes.

_Me too. I missed you guys a lot, _she replies.

_I missed you too, _he types, though she didn't say she missed _him_, but them. _We have lots to catch up on._

_And lots to talk about._

_Like?_

_Like the card._

His stomach altogether drops. He had forgotten about the card.

_Dear Ally, _it had said.

_I didn't want to give you this. I wanted you to come on tour. But you gotta do what you gotta do. I have to accept that. I want to thank you for being there for me, through everything, even when you thought I might not make it._

_I really can't make it without you. Don't forget that._

There's a scratched out spot here, one that he took the time to wreck completely because he had written something he didn't want her to know.

_I have something I need to tell you, and I hope I get to tell you soon._

_Love, Austin, _it concludes.

_I love you, _he had written before changing his mind. He crossed it out completely, his scribbles varying in every direction and squaring off the letters. He then coloured over the black pen in black Sharpie. It was necessary. He couldn't drop that on her before he left. He couldn't.

He wanted to tell her in person. He wanted to kiss her after, too, but that was beside the point.

_Oh right,_ he texts back.

_See you tomorrow, _she says.

_Yep. Tomorrow. Goodnight Ally._

_Goodnight Austin._

For the first time in eighty-six days, he doesn't go to bed crying.

* * *

He eagerly exits the bus the next day when it pulls up at the airport. He squirms his way to the meeting place with Trish and Dez tailing behind him. He stands firmly in one spot while they catch up. His phone chimes then, signalling a call from her.

"Hey, Ally," he greets.

"Hey," she says. He hears her bags rolling behind her. "I'm here. Where are you guys?"

"By Gate 27," Trish informs her.

"Me, too," Ally says, confused.

"What?" Trish says. Austin takes the phone from her and puts it to his face.

"How can we be at the same gate and not see each other?" he asks, growing impatient. He needed to be with her. It was a necessity at this point, not a desire.

"I don't know," Ally admits. She's silent for a moment. "Which Portland are you in?" she asks wearily.

"Portland, Oregon," he says, wondering what she was thinking.

"I'm in Portland, Maine," she says again, clearly angry.

There goes that stomach again.

"Three thousand miles away from you," she continues.

He looks to his friends and his lips threaten to tremble but he forces them to quit.

* * *

They were supposed to meet each other yesterday. They were supposed to see each other again and she was supposed to run in to his arms while he spun her around effortlessly like in one of those strangely compelling romance movies that are simultaneously awful and wonderful to watch. They were supposed to talk and be friends and something-elses and have everything be great and reunited again. But no. That didn't happen.

Instead, they were all at the airport the next day while Ally took random planes and trains (all – thankfully - paid for by Jimmy, as she would have never been able to pay for the fares on her chicken-finger work salary). At one point, he gets a text asking him to call her from the payphone because she can't call out to any more long distance locations.

He does so willingly and she picks up immediately. "Hey," she sighs.

"Where are you now?" he asks.

"Somewhere in Montana," she says. When he remains silent – courtesy of his geographically challenged intellect – she continues. "Just under a thousand miles away from you."

He sighs. She's getting closer at least. "Can you take one more plane?"

"I think so, yeah. It'll take about three and a half hours after lift off, though. The next plane isn't for another hour."

"Get on it. I need to see you. Uh, _we _need to see you," he corrects when is friends give him dirty looks. He gulps.

"Okay," she says. "At least we've got this figured out. It's only like, five more hours."

"I know, I just," he starts. "I just... want to see you," he admits sadly.

"I just want to see you too," she replies, and for a moment, he's overjoyed.

"Soon," he says.

"Soon," she confirms.

"See ya, Ally."

"Bye, Austin."

"I lo-," he says. "I... I'll see you soon." And he hangs up before he tells her he loves her. Not yet. He can't tell her yet. He pulls out his iPod and puts his earphones in, tuning out the hustle and bustle of the people in the airport.

* * *

He almost doesn't hear her. His song had just come to a close when he heard her shout. "Austin," she yelled. "Trish, Dez!"

He looked up instantly and saw her, but looked to his friends for confirmation that the Ally he was seeing coming his way was in fact the real Ally, and not a security guard or authoritative personnel. He bounces up and across the seemingly never-ending distance between him and the girl he's in love with.

Like he promised to himself, he picks her up and spins her around, although it does take some effort. He's strong, but not invincible. "Ally," he whispers before burying his face in her hair. He was never more grateful for anything ever. This moment, this exact event, was the only thing he was waiting for for the last eighty-seven days.

They separate to allow the others to say their hellos, too, but as soon as she's free he hugs her again, literally afraid to let go.

She hugs him back, though. She missed him, too. Ally pulls away and leans up to his ear. "About that card," she whispers.

"What about it?" he wonders aloud.

"What did you want to say?"

This was it. It was now or never. He leans back and looks her square in the eyes. "I wanted to tell you that I love you."

She stares at him forever.

She leans up and kisses him passionately for a moment. "Good," she whispers finally. "That's what I was hoping." She hugs him. "I love you too."


End file.
